Join me for the opening reception of the Handcrafted 2012 Exhibition at the Maria V. Howard Arts Center located at 270 Gay Street in Rocky Mount, NC 27804. The gallery is open Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 1-5pm. The exhibit runs January 28 - May 20, 2012 with an artist reception and award ceremony on January 29 from 6pm-9pm.

My piece "Toward Wholeness" was selected to be a part of this year's show.

Juror Brent Skidmore is Director of Craft Studies and an Assistant Professor of Art at UNC-Asheville. His diverse career includes 21 years of instructing at universities and craft programs across the nation including Penland, Arrowmont, Anderson Ranch, and Peter’s Valley and 8 dedicated years as a studio artist.Brent continues making sculptural furniture between administrative and volunteer commitments today. His works and techniques are published in “The Penland Book of Woodworking” (Lark Books), and he has exhibited extensively in the US, Finland, and Dubai including exhibits at the Smithsonian Craft Show and SOFA-Chicago.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Distressing paper for a handmade book. This is part of a new installation I'm working on called Vigil. It will be completed at the beginning of next year. The concept for the piece revolves around the meditative and transformative value of prayer, journaling, and fasting over the course of time. I'm also making one small hand built bowl every morning. There will be 365 bowls and 365 journal entries in this installation.

Distilled from a series of tape-recorded conversations with Ann Hamilton at the Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, California, July 23 and 24, 1990:

HD: Where did you get your persistence, your tenacity? They seem in sync with your curiosity.

AH: I think it has something to do with my family, and being raised in the Midwest with a strong work ethic. But it too can get in the way and it has been a long slow process learning when not to be "doing." If you're too worried about these deadlines and you don't have enough time to ask "what if", you may lose the potential of "what if", which is where the ideas come. I have to have a lot of blank time to incubate. The repetitive processes in my installations are a "doing" way to create that blank space. The problem this year is that I haven't had enough of that. Increasingly I've felt like I've been having to make decisions all the time, rather than having that blank space to just do nothing. So when I get it, it's in taking walks, and not so much in the work, as it was before. This will change the work.

The Asheville Art Museum is pleased to present Ready for Prime Time, a preview party celebrating Prime Time: New Media Juried Exhibition, the inaugural exhibition of the New Media Gallery scheduled to open in the Museum's newly-expanded East Wing in March 2012. Ready for Prime Time will take place at Asheville CityMac, located at 755 Biltmore Avenue in Biltmore Village, on Thursday, January 26 at 7:00 p.m. (audiences of all ages are welcome). A $5 donation at the door is suggested to support ongoing exhibitions and educational programming at the Museum.

In the fall of 2011, the Museum invited submissions from North Carolina artists working with screen-based, new media art work, such as video art, experimental animation and time-based media, to be featured in the inaugural exhibition of the New Media Gallery. One work by each submitting artist will be screened during Ready for Prime Time.

The New Media Gallery will be the first of its kind in WNC, offering innovative artists including those featured in Prime Time: New Media Juried Exhibition the opportunity to share their work with the community while developing new audiences and gaining recognition for their contribution to the modern art scene. The Museum eagerly anticipates the artistic developments made possible through the use of this exciting new gallery space.

Ready for Prime Time is hosted by CityMac, with additional support from Appalachian Vintner, the City of Asheville's Cultural Arts Division, the North Carolina Arts Council and the Rotary Club of Asheville. The Museum is also grateful to WNC magazine for their support as the media sponsor of this exciting event that celebrates the innovative creativity of our region and state.

Prime Time: New Media Juried Exhibition and related programs are also sponsored by RTCAR, Cherokee Preservation Foundation, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and North Carolina State University, with additional exhibition support from Blue Ridge National Heritage Area.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Friday, January 6, 2012

My mixed media piece "Flock 2" is in the Schwa Show, a National Juried Art Exhibition at the Pitt County Arts Council at Emerge in Greenville, North Carolina. Please join me at the reception tonight, January 6.

January 6 – January 28: The Schwa Show: National Juried Art Exhibition

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Sunday, January 1, 2012

1: the action or process of making something ready for use or service or of getting ready for some occasion, test, or duty

2: a state of being prepared

3: a preparatory act or measure

The last three years have been very hectic for me. I've been on the go nonstop - driving back and forth between Greenville and Wilmington while working on a second masters degree. As of this month, I completed my goal and graduated with an MFA. During this journey through school, I have also had several "big" life changes. We moved into our wonderful, river front home in Leland; my sister and niece moved in with us; we bought the Fayetteville Museum of Art to turn into a wedding venue; and I moved my studio from Acme to my home. I feel like I have just been reacting to whatever new challenge came at me. I've been dealing with some things, putting others off, making to do lists, and neglecting dear friends. This year, my word is Preparation. I want to take some time to reboot. I want to get organized, to catch up on things, to revisit relationships, to romance my husband, to concentrate on one thing at a time, to get focused, to work on my body, soul, and spirit. I want to be prepared in every way I can for the next door that will open to me.

Lamentations 3:40"Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD."